Episode 3: How to make someone feel like a superstar

By Arel Moodie

Imagine a time you were given the chance to shine, to demonstrate your strengths, and given an opportunity to explore your powers even further. You influence people and get a taste of how excellent you are and can be. Such is the power of the spotlight and active listening.

Being interested and listening actively to your friend is a powerful technique you can use to up your conversation skills. Simply nodding your head or even occasionally grunting in assent will show acknowledgement. Easy way to remember this:

“You have two ears, one mouth, and you should use them in that proportion.”

Acknowledgement is the first of three components to active listening. The second step is to come up with softening statements and follow-up questions. The third and most important component to active listening is to see how you can help…and then offer that help! Offer your connections and your knowledge and you’ve created a lot of rapport with your friend.

You can even turn this into a game; social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk suggests that every single conversation can be a game…and the first one to ask for help loses. So aim to be the one who can offer help first, and this will be a win-win for you!